ANAHEIM, Calif. – Jacob deGrom, the star pitcher for the Texas Rangers, experienced a setback during Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, leaving the mound after just two innings due to right triceps fatigue. The 38-year-old right-hander is set to undergo an MRI on Friday to assess the extent of his condition.
“I’m not too concerned,” deGrom remarked after the Rangers’ 7-0 loss. “Hopefully I’ll make my next start. We’ll see. It was tight in the second inning, and it just didn’t want to loosen up. I haven’t really had this before.”
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DeGrom has been dealing with a left hip and glute injury since the All-Star break, which raises further concerns about his durability. In the first inning, he navigated a two-on, one-out jam, but the second inning proved more challenging as he allowed two runs and five hits, throwing a total of 32 pitches before being replaced by Peyton Gray.
This performance marked the first occasion since September 5, 2017, that deGrom permitted five hits in a single inning, a statistic that underscores his historical prowess on the mound.
“I wasn’t going to risk it once I heard it was the triceps,” commented Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. “You don’t want to hear anything arm-related. Pulling a guy out in the second inning is concerning, but we’ll figure it out when he gets some imaging. We won’t know until they get in there.”
This injury comes at a critical time for Texas, which began a seven-game road trip with the recent placement of fellow pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Following a win against the Angels on Monday, the team has lost three consecutive games, now standing at 60-62 and trailing Houston by two games in the AL West.
With both deGrom and Eovaldi potentially sidelined, the Rangers face significant challenges in their starting rotation. “Our starting pitching has taken a hit, that is reality,” Schumaker stated. “With two guys going down, we’ll see what it looks like, but it’s never easy when your No. 1 and No. 2 guys are down.”
A two-time Cy Young Award winner, deGrom’s career statistics are impressive; he has allowed six hits, struck out three batters, and walked one in this outing. He is just two strikeouts away from reaching a significant milestone of 2,000 strikeouts in his career, a feat that would place him among the elite pitchers in Major League Baseball history.
In three starts against the Angels this season, deGrom has surrendered 10 earned runs in just 10 innings, a statistic that highlights his struggles against this particular team. Reflecting on his performance, he expressed disappointment, saying, “I needed to go out there and give us some length and wasn’t able to do it. I said I could probably keep going, but they said, ‘Well, we’re not going to risk this right now,’ so we’ll just see how it is tomorrow and I’ll go from there.”
Historically, when healthy, deGrom has been one of the most formidable pitchers in baseball, making at least 31 starts per season and maintaining an impressive 2.53 ERA over 622 1/3 innings from 2017 to 2019 with the New York Mets. His accolades include winning the NL Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019 and leading the National League in strikeouts during those years.
However, injuries have been a recurring theme in deGrom’s career, as he made only 35 starts between 2021 and 2024 and underwent his second Tommy John surgery in June 2023, significantly impacting his tenure with the Rangers.
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